


shining eyes just like the forest lights

by the_one_that_fell



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, the sims: makin magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 19:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11424900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_one_that_fell/pseuds/the_one_that_fell
Summary: When Jack woke up that morning, falling down a literal hole into a new world hadn’t exactly been on his to-do list.





	shining eyes just like the forest lights

**Author's Note:**

> Why yes this IS inspired by a popular computer game from the 2000s
> 
> Originally posted on [Tumblr here ](http://alphacrone.tumblr.com/post/162678547647/omgcp-makin-magic-au-1)
> 
> Not sure if I'll continue writing this but chapter one sure was fun to do!

When Jack woke up that morning, falling down a literal hole into a new world hadn’t exactly been on his to-do list.

“You okay there, hun?” A man asked, holding out a hand to help Jack up.

“Not…really…” Jack said, looking around in a daze, hysteria blooming in his chest and closing up his throat.

The man looked distraught, and began pulling at Jack’s arms and chin to look him over for bumps and bruises. “You don’t seem to be bleeding,” he said after he was done. “Where does it hurt?”

For the first time since falling, Jack focused enough to properly look at the man. He was small and lithe, with golden hair adorned with flowers. He wore the oddest sort of tunic, and – were those _wings_ sticking out of his back?

“Euh,” he said, shaking his head. It didn’t help; the wings were still there, clear as day, these beautiful, gauzy sort of things. “I’m not- not hurt, just confused-”

“ _Oh_ ,” the man said, smiling in relief. “You’re an Alice, huh?”

“What?”

“You know, that book from your world,” the man said, waving his hand vaguely. “Alice. She falls down the rabbit hole…?”

“Oh, yeah.” Jack was beginning to wonder how hard he hit his head. “Where…am I?”

“Specifically?” The man motioned with his head for Jack to follow as he began to walk. “Serra Glen. More generally? The province of Samwell. Even _more_ generally? This world doesn’t have a name, just like yours.”

“So I’m…not the first to fall?” Jack asked as they walked towards what looked like a marketplace.

The man laughed. “You’re not the first I’ve _found_. It’s growing more and more common with every cycle of the seasons. And the number of you who stay grows larger just the same.”

“But there is a way to get back,” Jack said.

“Oh, sure,” the man said airily. His voice was as crisp and bright as his smile, and it comforted Jack as his anxiety began to spike. “It’s not always easy, but there’s always a way home.”

Serra Glen sat in the clearing of a dense forest, the sky a purple-gray. A few drops of rain fell on their heads, but no real storm came.

“I have to check in at the stand,” the man said, holding up his basket of mushrooms. “I was foraging when I found you. But then we can get a cup of tea – or something stronger – and let you ask any questions you please.”

“What’s your name?” Jack asked, wringing his hands together. The man looked surprised, and for a moment Jack wondered if he’d fallen into a world without names.

“Oh, how rude of me,” the man laughed, hand over his heart. “I’m Bitty. And you are…?”

“Jack. Is Bitty your real name? Or a nickname?” Jack didn’t want to be rude, but apparently the fall had knocked all of the manners from his body.

“Nickname. It’s ironic,” Bitty said with a embarrassed shrug, looking down at his feet. “I’m only part pixie, so I’m bigger than most.”

They stopped walking as they reached a cart, filled to the brim with flowers, herbs, spools of thread, bottles of glistening powders and liquids, and the most delicious smelling pies Jack had ever laid eyes on. A bored-looking young man stood by it, eyes lighting up as he saw Bitty.

“You get the shrooms?” He asked, reaching out for the basket. Bitty nodded.

“‘Course. Nursey, this is Jack. He’s an Alice, so I’m gonna take him to the Stoned Knight for a drink.”

Nursey – what was with these names? Jack thought he’d left dumb nicknames behind with hockey – grimaced. A few of the leaves encircling his head fell as he moved forward to pat Jack’s shoulder. “That’s rough, man. Get the mead – it’s Shitty’s specialty.”

Bitty gave Nursey a horrified look. “I’m trying to cheer him up, not _kill_ him, Derek.”

Nursey (Derek?) grinned. “I’ll watch the cart, but remember I gotta head over to Vernon’s Vault this afternoon to pick up some things.”

Bitty rolled his eyes. “You mean you need to go flirt with Dex.”

“Semantics,” Nursey said easily. A few more leaves fell to the ground, and Jack swore he saw more grow in their place.

“I’ll be back before then,” Bitty promised. “Jack can help me haul it to the Haus.”

“Sure,” Jack said, though he had no idea what he was agreeing to.

“Cool,” Nursey said. “Have fun.”

And then Bitty was dragging Jack through the market, into a less crowded part of town. The Stoned Knight was a large, hodge-podge building settled between a blacksmith’s and a butcher’s, the sign outside promising the strongest mead in all of Samwell.

“Do _not_ get the mead,” Bitty warned as they entered the tavern. “Get tea or ale. The mead is for idiots like Shitty who don’t mind blacking out after a few pints.”

“Shitty-?” But Jack was cut off by the arrival of a man with an impressive mustache and long, wild hair.

“BITS,” he boomed, smiling widely as he saw Bitty. “And _who_ , might I ask, is this fine gentleman you’ve brought to see me?”

“Shitty,” Bitty said warmly. “This is Jack. Another Alice.”

“Brah!” Shitty leaned over the counter to hug Jack tightly. “Welcome to the club! Where you from?”

“Montreal,” Jack said tentatively.

“A _Canadian_ ,” Shitty said, as if that meant something. “Sweet, dude. I’m from Boston. Well, Cambridge. It’s way better here, I’m sure you’ll figure out.”

“Is Shitty…?” Were this man from Samwell, Jack would finish the question. But the idea of someone from _his_ world having the name _Shitty_ …

“Everyone in Samwell has a nickname,” Shitty said. “So I gave myself one as soon as I got here.”

“You…named yourself Shitty,” Jack deadpanned, not quite understanding. “Why?”

“‘Cause everyone would ask me my name,” he said, wiping down the counter with the rag tucked into his apron. “And I’d tell ‘em, ‘It’s super shitty.’ So eventually I just told people to call me Shitty.”

“Huh,” Jack said. “Well, then.”

“I used to believe everyone from your world was like him,” Bitty said, not unkindly. “He was the first Alice I ever found. But then I learned better.”

Shitty shrugged, not at all insulted. “Bits, the usual?”

“Sure,” Bitty said. “Jack, you want tea or ale?”

“Tea, please,” Jack said.

“One tea, one elderberry nectar,” Shitty said. “Coming right up. If you wanna sit somewhere, Bits, I’ll have the Tadpoles bring your drinks over.”

“Thanks, Shits,” Bitty said. “C’mon, Jack.”

Bitty led him to a wooden table in the back of the tavern, lit softly by floating torches. Though somewhat primitive, everything in this world seemed to be touched by magic. In a way, Jack found it charming.

“So, I know you must be overwhelmed,” Bitty said, lacing his fingers together on the worn surface of the table. “If you have any questions…”

“Can everyone do magic here?” Jack asked, looking around. There were a group of women he suspected were witches shooting small, playful balls of fire at each other across their own table nearby, and at the counter sat a man flipping the pages of his book without touching them.

“Yes,” Bitty said with a smile. “We didn’t even have that word until Alices started showing up. It’s just…normal. Spells, potions, the whole shebang.”

“Right.” Jack nodded, logging that away in the mental list he was compiling for Samwell. “And there are more…species? Races? Than just humans?”

“Yep.” Bitty fluttered his wings in example. “Pixies, vampires, trolls, elves – Nursey, my assistant, he’s an elf. It’s why he’s so handsome.”

Jack chuckled at that. “Oh, I thought that was just common in Samwell, from everyone I’ve met,” he said, grinning wider as Bitty blushed.

“Charmer,” Bitty said, glancing down at his hands. “Any other questions?”

“Can you fly?”

Bitty paused for a moment, stunned, then his grin curled into something mischievous. “Oh, sweetheart. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

**Author's Note:**

> [alphacrone](http://alphacrone.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. 
> 
> If you think my writing's swell, please check out my original project, [The Discourt Knife.](http://thediscourtknife.tumblr.com/) Chapter 5 was posted just the other day, and there's lot of witty banter and Fighting Evil in this update. Check it out!


End file.
